Fit Young Adults Have Lower Type 2 Risk

Being physically fit in young adulthood reduces the risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. That’s what researchers found when they studied more than 1.5 million 18-year-old Swedish soldiers who took physical fitness tests for the military during 1969–1997. Soldiers who had scored in the top third for aerobic capacity and muscle strength were three times less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over the next few decades than those who scored in the bottom third. What’s more, this relationship was seen even among those who weren’t overweight. The findings suggest that good fitness habits should start in childhood, researchers say. Source:Annals of Internal Medicine, published online March 7, 2016